Internal-combustion engine.



R. A. REYNOLDS.

INTERNAL GOMBUSTION ENGINE. l

APPLICATION I'ILED MA311, 1909.

Patented June 8,1909. 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

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R. A. REYNOLDS. INTERNAL GOMBUYSTION EN AyrLIoATIoN FILED 11,111.11.

GINE.

190" Patented June 8,1909. 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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ROBERTA. REYNOLDSI, OI`l DETROIT, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR TO REYNOLDS GAS ENGINE CO.A

lINTERNAL-COMCBCFS'IION ENGINE.

Specication of Letters Patent.

Application led March 1 1, 1909. Serial No. 482,834.

Patented June s, 1909.

To all whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that I, ROBERT A. REYNOLDS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Detroit, county of Wayne, State of Michigan, have` invented a certain new and useful Improvement in `Internal-Combustion. Engines, and declare the following to be a full,

clear, and exact description of the same,

such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specication. l

This invention relates to internal combustion engines; it has for its object an improved rotary valve for internal combustion engines, which may be considered either as an oil packed valve, or as an air packed valve, or as a valve which is balanced by the peculiar character and A application of the packing employed.

In the drawings :-Figure 1, is a sectional elevation of the cy1inder, the valve case, and the appurtenances to the valve case. Fig. 2,

, is a bottom view ofthe valve. Fig. 3, 1s a plan view of the valve seat employed. Fig. 4, is a sectional elevation of a cylinder with valve arranged directly in the end thereof. Fig. 5, is a cross section at a--a of Fig. 4.

1 indicates the cylinder, 2 the iston, and

3 indicates the valve casing, pre erably cast integral with, and as'a part of, the cylinder structure. The chamber within the valve casing communicates with the chamber within the cylinder, through a passage 4.

that leads into the cylinder near the closed end thereof. The valve casing is provided with a long stem-bearing portion 5, bored for the valve stem 6. That part of the casing which lies next adjacent to. the closed ends of the cylinder is provided with a large cylindrical chamber bored and machined from without, and closed by the screw plug 7. The face 8 of this chamber forms the sub-seat for a removableseat piece 9, provided with apertures 10 and 11, one of which engages over the mouth of a passage 12, which constitutes the secondary exhaust passage, and the other `of which, 10, 'registers over a passage 13, which constitutes the inlet passage for fuel. The central opening 14 throu h which the stem 6ypasses is of somewhat arger bore than the diameter of the stem 6, and there is formed an annular chamber 15, concentric with the cylinder valve chamber. Into the bottom of-this annular chamber 15 leans a conduit pi e 1G, from a lubricator 17. Around a soli ring 18 which forms a part of the valve seat 9, and on that side of it which is next to the rotating valve 19, is a shallow groove'forming an extension of the annular chamber 15,

4and furnishing a free communication to a grooved passage 20 on the underside of the.

rotating valve 19. The .grooved passage 20 opens on that side which isnext adjacent to the loose valve seat, extends close to, but not entirely to, the periphery ofthe valve 19, and vanishes at the pomt 21 just before reaching the. periphery of the rotating valve. The rotating valve 19 is furnished with a single openin 22, which serves both for an inlet port' an for an exhaust port, according to the position of the valve, with respect to thepassages 12 and 13. A primary exhaust passage 23 leads'from the cylinder 1 into the exhaust passafre 12, leading from a point near the limit of the outstroke of the piston, so that a large portion of the exhausted gases are discharged through the passage 23 into the exhaust outlet 12, and the remaining parts are discharged through the passages ll-and 12, which are open for .discharge when the port 22 registers with the passage 11. l

,I have found, experimentally, that when anl oil cup 17 is so located-with respect to the annular chamber 15 that it will lill the annular chamber 15 by hydrostatic pressure,

Vand the rotation of the valve 19 is at the speed which the valve ordinarilyattains,

am1 which-maybe anywhere from one hun dred revolutions to twenty-five hundred revolutions per minute, there is formed a supportl for the valve which counteracts the pressure of the explosion, and counteracts the pressure that occurs under the return stroke in producing the compression of the gases, and which will even force the valve disk from its seat against this pressure, especiallyforcing it against the pressure of compression,y and that this forcing effect takes placefeven though a spring 26 of considerable force be employed to hold the valve toits seat. yThe same results attend the use of a hanging valve 29 occupying a chamberwhich is in direct extension of the cylinder, and mounted on a stem 25, which is concentric to the main cylinder. Such'a hanging valveis shown' in Fig. 4:, in which valve 29 is carried on stem-25 driven by an external wheel 30. The stem 25 and wheel ico -is normally held by sprin 30 are adapted to have slight motion of the valve toward and'from its seat to which it 32. The engagement of the periphery o the valve with the side Walls of the valve chamber should be a good machine fit, with clearance suilicient to prevent binding under the eXpansion due to the high heat produced in action. In this construction oil is introduced through conduit 33 the ignition plug 34 is located at one side.

41 indicates the feed conduit, 42 the exhaust conduit.

I have found, from experimental use, that the lifting effect is sufiicient to prevent eX- cessive wear an`d apparently to prevent any Wear on that face of the rotating valvewhich lies next adjacent to the seat, and this lifting effect is accomplished with apparently entirely perfect packing between the rotating disk and the walls of the cylinder in which it rotates. I attribute the result to centrifugal action upon the film of oil fed into lthe chamber ,15, though it may be artially, or perhaps entirely, due to centri gal action on a film of air included between the valve and its seat. Whatever be the cause of the result, I have `I`found, experimentally, that the valve disk requires no cutting, tooling or fitting, and that the packing is sufficient to prevent leakage of gases during compression, even though both the valve disk and the removable seat be left in the condition they are when tooled in a lathe, and no grinding is required to fit either the disk or the cylinder, and the faces of the removable disk 9. This valve is especially useful in engines of the vertical type, that is, in which the piston reciprocates on a vertical line, and in engines of the two cycle type, in which the stem 6 is given a rotation of the same speed as the driving shaft or of the main shaftof the engine.

What I claim 'isr- 1. In an internal combustion engine hava packing fluid ing a compression chamber, a valve seat provided with a port, a rotary valve rovided with a passage adapted to register with the said port, means for introducing to one face of the said valve at a central point with respect thereto, and an annular opening surrounding said valve in free communication With the compression chamber of said engine, substantially described.

2. In an internal combustion engine in combination with the compression chamber thereof,l a valve chamber opening out of said compression chamber, rotary valve located in said valve chamber adapted for movement longitudinal of its axis means for admitting a packing iiuid lto a face of said rotary valve whereby the rotary movement of said valve causes the packing ilnid to gather under the rim and thereby produces movement of said valve along its axis against the compression action of said engine, substantially described.

8. In an internal combustion engine, a compression chamber, a rotary valveliaving one face exposed to said compression chamber and one face engaging against a seat, means for introducing a packing Huid between the seat and the face of the valve, means on the valve disk adapted to produce centrifugal movement of said packing Huid.

4. In -an internal combustion engine, in combinationwith a rotary valve, provided with means for producing centrifugal action of a fiuid conducted to a face thereof, a spring arranged to hold said valve yieldingly to its seat, and a conductor adapted to lead a fluid to a central part of the face of said valve, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof, I rsign this specification in the presence of two witnesses.

ROBERT A. REYNOLDS.

Witnesses:

C. F. BURTON, W. M. SWAN. 

